High efficiency cooling device

ABSTRACT

A cooling device has a cooling area with a predefined periphery, and a cooling circuit surrounding the cooling area. The cooling circuit includes a medium and a plurality of N conductors in parallel alignment and located within the medium, the medium being a plurality of N+1 segments, with each segment being separated from other segments by a member of the plurality of conductors.

[0001] This application relates to another patent application titledHigh Efficiency Semiconductor Cooling Device, filed on the same date,and claims the benefits of Provisional application 60/400,152.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Field of the Invention

[0003] The invention relates generally to a thermoelectric coolingdevice and more generally it relates to a device that allows heat to beconverted to electricity with efficiency approaching the efficiency ofthe electric transformers.

[0004] Thermoelectric devices have been in use for years. Number ofdomestic and foreign organizations are manufacturing and marketingthermoelectric devices. Applications vary from small consumer-typerefrigerators to precise aerospace temperature control systems. Athermoelectric cooler or heater (thermoelectric module or thermoelectricdevice) is a component that functions as a small heat pump. By applyinga DC voltage to a thermoelectric module, heat will be moved through themodule from one end to another. One module end, therefore, will becooled while the opposite end will be heated. This phenomenon isreversible, whereby a change in polarity will cause heat to be moved inopposite direction. Consequently, a thermoelectric device may be usedfor both heating and cooling thereby making it highly suitable forprecise temperature control application. In view of this definition andfor readability the term “thermoelectric cooler” shall be generic, andmean either a heater or cooler.

[0005] Views of a few commercially available thermoelectric devices arepresented in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

[0006] In FIG. 1 there is shown a four stage thermoelectric device 10reaching temperatures of −120° C. The device shown in FIG. 2 is a threestage thermoelectric device 17 producing temperature of about −90° C.with a small load and in FIG. 3, there is depicted a single layerthermoelectric device 17 capable of producing negative temperature of−40° C. Thus, it is the amount of cooling produced by a device that isdependent on the number of stages.

[0007] In FIG. 4 there is presented a view of a single thermoelectricdevice. FIG. 4a illustrates an upper supporting ceramic plate 16 ontowhich a conductive pattern 17 is deposited and highlighted in FIG. 4b.FIG. 4c shows an array of “p” and “n” types of thermoelectric columns18, which are electrically connected by deposited conductive patters 17and 19. Plate 20 of FIG. 4e is the bottom plate, which carries theconductive layer from array of “p” and “n” types of thermoelectriccolums. And FIG. 4f shows a composite view of device assembly 21.

[0008] Thermoelectric energy conversion is the interconversion of heatand electrical energy for power generation or heat pumping and is basedon the Seebeck and Peltier effects. In the early 1950s, progress led tothe development of semiconductor thermo elements with the results thatreasonably efficient thermoelectric devices could be constructed.Metallic thermocouples provide only very low efficiencies, the mostfavorable being combination of bismuth and antimony, which provideefficiencies of approximately 1%; selected semiconductors can provideefficiencies of approximately including 8-10%.

[0009] The independence of size vs. efficiency, the absence of movingparts, high reliability, quietness, lack of vibration, low maintenance,simple startup, and absence of pollution problems characterize thetechnique of direct energy conversion. Thermoelectric generators havebeen used in specialized applications in which combinations of theirdesirable features outweigh their high cost and low generatingefficiencies, which are typically 3-7%. Large-scale thermoelectricgenerators cannot compete with oil-fired central power stations, whichoperate at efficiencies of 35-40%.

[0010] The most advanced thermoelectric systems are the RadioisotopeThermoelectric Generators (RTGs), which have been developed for militaryand space systems under the aegis of the US Department of Energy DOE.The RTGs most recently operated in space were used to power the VoyagerI and II spacecrafts and have conversion efficiencies of 6.7% andspecific powers of 4.2 W/kg. Other RTGs have been used for suchapplications as floating and terrestrial weather stations, cardiacpacemakers, and navigational buoys. Fossil-fired thermoelectricgenerators have been developed for military and commercial applications.Some of these applications include power for remote navigational lights,communication line repeaters, and cathodic protection, eg, protection ofthe east-west pipeline across Saudi Arabia by 34 thermoelectricstations.

[0011] Thermoelectric heat pumping, like thermoelectric powergeneration, has increased applications in those areas where theadvantages of the thermoelectric conversion process, i.e., small space,lightweight, high reliability, no noise or pollution, and simpletemperature control, can be utilized.

[0012] Thermoelectric cooling devices have been developed for a varietyof military and commercial applications. These include submarineair-conditioning systems, small refrigerators, and recreationalinstruments, and cooling for electro-optical systems. They could be usedin systems using night navigation, night vision cameras, in thenavigation of long and short-range rockets, missiles and otherinstruments of war.

[0013] Peltier Cooling is the textbook interpretation of the innerworking of thermoelectric cooling.

[0014] The principle of operation of a Peltier device is shown in FIGS.5, 6 and 7. In FIG. 5 there is shown an assembly 51 of p and n typesemiconductor 52 and 53 respectively and two metallic plates 54 and 55.When a battery 56 is connected to both semiconductor columns 52 and 53via metallic plates 54 and 55, a passage of current will produce coolingand heating effects for given current polarity, as is shown in FIG. 6.With the positive thermal applied to the p type semiconductor, thepositive end is coded and the end that the negative terminal isconnected in order to be heated, and the reverse will occur for the ntype semiconductor 53. When reversed, polarity is applied by battery 57,previously hot ends will turn cold and the previously cold ends willturn hot, as viewed in FIGS. 6 and 7.

[0015] Detailed views of events just described are given in FIGS. 8, 9,10, 11, 12 and 13. The role, that Joule's heat is playing, isintentionally omitted.

[0016] Although the Peltier cooling and Seebeck electricity generationis not exclusive to semiconductors, the band diagram structure for p andn type semiconductors is highlighted in FIGS. 14, 15 and 16.

[0017] Current understanding of the Peltier effect principle isexplained on bases of moving electrons or holes from one material toanother and electrons or holes are said to be the carriers of heat. Itwas found that the quantity of heat transferred is proportional to thequantity of electricity flowing. The constant of proportionality is thedifferential Peltier coefficient, α_(P) _(ab) , given by $\begin{matrix}{\alpha_{P_{ab}} = {\frac{W}{Q} = {\frac{P}{I}\quad {volts}}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

[0018] Where W is the energy in joules transferred to or from thejunction between two materials, a and b, by a charge of Q coulombs,α_(P) _(ab) , is often more conveniently expressed in terms of the powerP (watts) transferred by a current I (amperes).

[0019] If the two materials are joined at two points held at differenttemperatures, an open-circuit potential difference ΔV is produced as aresult of a temperature difference ΔT between the junctions, the Seebeckeffect. This leads to the differential Seebeck coefficient, α_(S) _(ab), given by: $\begin{matrix}{\alpha_{S_{ab}} = {\lim\limits_{{\Delta \quad T}->0}{\frac{\Delta \quad V}{\Delta \quad T}V\text{/}{^\circ}\quad {C.}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

[0020] The e.m.f generated when ΔT=1° C. is sometimes called thethermoelectric power. The two coefficients (and) are related byrelationship: $\begin{matrix}{\alpha_{S_{ab}} = \frac{\alpha_{P_{ab}}}{T}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

[0021] Where T is the absolute temperature of the cold junction.

[0022] Finally, where there is a temperature difference ΔT over part ofa single conductor the passage of current I leads to thermal power ΔPbeing generated. This is an event, related to the Peltier and Seebeckeffect, and is not considered.

[0023] The junction of two metals to form a thermocouple has been usedfor a long time as a method of measuring temperature, withcopper-constantan or iron-constantan couples having values of α_(S) upto about 50 μV/° C. Correspondingly low values of α_(P) occur, so thatlittle energy is transferred when a current is passed through thejunction, with a consequently small cooling effect. This is because theconduction electrons all have energies close to the Fermi level, andvery small energy changes occur when a current flows through thejunction. However, for the ohmic contact between a metal and anon-degenerate semiconductor α_(P) is much larger and a significantcooling effect may be obtained.

[0024] Consider an n-type semiconductor section 81 sandwiched betweentwo metals 82 and 83 respectively to form two ohmic contacts (FIG. 8).If a potential difference is applied as shown, only the higher energyelectrons in metal 82 will be able to move over the potential barrierφ_(S)-χ into the semiconductor 81 (FIG. 9). Thus in metal 83 the averageelectron energy is reduced, while in metal 82 it is increased, so thatheat is transferred from metal 82 to metal 83. If a p-type semiconductoris substituted and the same voltage applied (FIG. 10), a hole currentwill flow due to movement of electrons in the valence band under thepotential barrier ζ-φ_(S). Thus low-energy electrons are removed frommetal 1, increasing its average energy and reducing the average energyof metal 2, so that heat is obtained from the energy diagram, since theelectrons crossing from metal 82 to an n-type semiconductor 81 possesspotential energy (φ_(S)-χ) and mean kinetic energy {overscore (w)},which is proportional to $\begin{matrix}{\alpha_{P_{mn}} = {- \frac{\overset{\_}{w + ( {\varphi_{S} - \chi} )}}{}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

[0025] The minus sign indicates removal of energy from the metal.Similarly, for a metal-to-p-type semiconductor contact, $\begin{matrix}{\alpha_{P_{m\quad p}} = {+ \frac{\overset{\_}{w + ( { - \varphi_{s}} )}}{}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

[0026] The plus sign indicating energy transfer to the metal 83, due tothe temperature dependence of the quantities in eqs. (4) and (5) α_(P)rises with temperature.

[0027] A commercial cooling device is obtained by arranging n and p typematerials in couples (FIGS. 1,2 & 3). The passage of current due to theindicated applied voltage will cause all the top metal surfaces to becooled and the lower ones to be heated, while reversal of the currentwill cause reversal of the direction of the heat flow. Thus if one sideof the device is fixed to a suitable heat sink maintained at roomtemperature, refrigeration of an article to the other side would occur.A p—n bismuth—telluride couple has a Seebeck coefficient of about 400μV/° C. and for a well heat-insulated device with 16 couples, forexample, a current of 10 A will cause a heat flow of about 3W,maintaining a temperature difference of about 30° C. between the twosurfaces. From eq. (1) the higher the current passed through the devicethe greater will be the rate of the heat flow, but a limit is by theheat dissipation due to the electrical resistance of the device and bythe heat flowing in from the surroundings. It may be shown that theJoule heat produced in the resistance flows equally to the hot and coldsurfaces, so that for a cooling unit of resistance R with the coldsurface at temperature T_(c), the equation governing the thermalcondition of the load is

[0028] K is the thermal conductance of the device, which is reduced byefficient thermal insulation, and ΔT is the temperature differencebetween the surfaces. A high value of α_(S) is desirable to give aslarge a drop in temperature as possible for a given current; α_(S) isused in the above equation since it is less dependent on temperaturethan α_(P).

[0029] The suitability of a material for use as a thermoelectric devicedepends on the above considerations and may be deduced from a figure ofmerit, Z given by $\begin{matrix}{Z = {\frac{\alpha_{s}^{2}}{RK}{kelvin}^{- 1}}} & (7)\end{matrix}$

[0030] At room temperature, for metal junction Z is about 0.1×10⁻³ K.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0031] In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the knowntypes of thermoelectric type devices now outlined in the prior art, thepresent invention provides a thermal pocket cooling device constructionwherein the same can be utilized for cooling objects, space, system ordevices.

[0032] The general purpose of the present invention is to provide a newcooling device that has many of the advantages of the thermoelectricdevices mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in anew cooling device.

[0033] To attain this, the present invention generally comprises adevice converting moving electric charges into thermal pockets. The maincomponent is a junction of dissimilar materials, such as metal andp-type semiconductor, metal and n-type semiconductor, metal to metaljunction, p-type semiconductor to n-type semiconductor junction, p-typeor n-type semiconductor to inversion layer junction, metal to p-type andn-type semiconductor junction and other combinations thereafter. This isachieved by making the thermal conductance K and the thermal resistanceas small as possible.

[0034] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a coolingdevice that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.

[0035] An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal devicefor cooling of objects, space, system or devices.

[0036] Another object of the invention is to incorporate cooling deviceinto to body of integrated circuits.

[0037] Another object of the invention is to provide cooling of thesubstrate, which is used as a mounting and supporting carrier and as acooling device to subsystems, attached to this substrate.

[0038] Another object of the invention is to yield high efficiency, lowcost, lightweight for portability, easy to use device.

[0039] Another object of the invention is to provide low temperatureenvironment for superconducting devices, high heat output components,integrated circuits and superconductive systems.

[0040] Another object of the invention is to provide a cooling systemthat may be used to control temperature of precision voltage standards,voltage references, A/D converters, D/.A converters, amplifiers,comparators and other analog devices.

[0041] Another object of this invention is to provide a low temperaturefor devices used in low light level cameras, infrared detectionssystems, UV systems, and weaponry.

[0042] Another object of this invention is to provide low temperatureenvironment for high-speed circuits, communication devices, digitalprocessors and computing devices.

[0043] Another object of this invention is to provide accurate lowtemperature in CCD and MOS cameras.

[0044] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeobvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects andadvantages be within the scope of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0045]FIGS. 1-4 illustrate prior art thermoelectric devices.

[0046]FIGS. 5-7 illustrate a prior art Peltier device.

[0047]FIGS. 8-13 illustrate detailed views of the operation of thePeltier device.

[0048]FIGS. 14-18 illustrate the band diagram structure of the Peltierdevice.

[0049]FIG. 19 illustrates a single-stage cooling device.

[0050]FIG. 20 illustrates the cooling effect of the device.

[0051]FIG. 21 illustrates a pyramid structure of the prior art of FIGS.1-3.

[0052]FIG. 22 illustrates a top view of a circular cooling device.

[0053]FIG. 23 illustrates a sectional cut of the device of FIG. 22.

[0054]FIGS. 24-25 illustrate sectional views of the cut of FIG. 22.

[0055] FIGS. 26(a-d) illustrate the progression of additional ringsegments.

[0056] FIGS. 27(a-b) illustrate stacked cells separated by insulators.

[0057]FIG. 28 illustrates a gas heater, including a pipe.

[0058]FIG. 29 illustrates the device of FIG. 28 with additional cooling.

[0059]FIG. 30 illustrates an application of the cooling device accordingto this invention.

[0060]FIG. 31 shows a segment of the thermoelectric cooling circuit.

[0061]FIG. 32 shows use of the thermoelectric cooling device of thisinvention on a high power transistor switch.

[0062]FIG. 33 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention.

[0063]FIG. 34 shows another alternate embodiment of the invention.

[0064]FIG. 35 shows a frontal view of an infrared tense with the coolingdevice of this invention.

[0065]FIG. 36 shows a frontal view of either a spacecraft ofunderwatercraft with the cooling device of this invention.

[0066]FIG. 37 is a table of components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0067] Equation (6) implies that the best results are achieved when theJoule's heat and the ΔT and K components are minimized. The Joule's heatreduction could be achieved by making the device short to minimize theresistance R. This is illustrated in FIGS. 11 through 21 for n- andp-type materials. In FIGS. 14 and 18 the Joule's heat is negligible dueto the reduced length of material. The Peltier heat flow from one end toanother becomes $\begin{matrix}{\overset{.}{Q} = {\frac{Q}{\tau} = {{- {kA}}\frac{\theta}{l}}}} & (8)\end{matrix}$

[0068] The derivative $\frac{\theta}{l}$

[0069] is called the temperature gradient. The minus sign is introducedin order that the positive direction of the flow of heat should coincidewith the positive direction of l. For heat to flow in the positivedirection of l, this must be the direction in which 0 decreases.

[0070] The Equation (8) deals with transport of heat from one junctionto another.

[0071] When the current is applied to a cell, each end of the materialis maintained at different temperature and empirical measurements willshow a continuous distribution of temperature. The transport of energybetween neighboring volume elements is by virtue of the temperaturedifference between the elements and is known as heat conduction. Thefundamental law of heat conduction is a generalization of the results ofexperiments on the linear flow of heat through a slab perpendicular tothe faces. If a device is made from a slab of silicon of thickness Δxand of area A and one junction is maintained at the temperature θ andthe other at θ+Δθ. The heat Q that flows perpendicular to the faces fora time T is measured. It is a time unit.

[0072]FIGS. 11-18 provide a detail explanation of the operation of theinvention. Beginning with FIG. 11 there is shown a representation of apiece of p-type semiconductor material 109 that has a length of 31 asrepresented by dimension lines 308. There is a metal plate 102 on oneend and opposite the metal plate and separated by the distance 31 is asecond metal plate 103 at the opposite end of the p-type semiconductormaterial 109. There is a constant current source 105 provided and when aswitch 141 is closed current would flow from the current source 105through plate 103 the p-type semiconductor material 109 and then throughplate 102 back to the current source 105.

[0073]FIG. 12 illustrates the situation where the switch 141 is in theclosed position and current is flowing as indicated by arrow 110 fromthe constant current supply 105. There is heat present and a depletionregion 109 is generated by the effects of the heat on the semiconductorbar 109. Similarly, there is a depletion region 113 that is present thatis caused by the electric field created by the flow of the current A,between plates 103 and 102.

[0074] In FIG. 13, as was in FIG. 12, there is an area 114 that is alsoheated by the effect of the joule heating that is the results of theinternal resistance of the p-type semiconductor material 109.

[0075] Referring to FIG. 14, the plates 103 and 102 have been positionedso that the depletion region created by the heat next to the plate 102is overlapping the depletion region created by the electric fieldcreated by the flow of current A into the plate 103. Thus, theseparation of the plate 102 by the plate 103 is determined by length Lof the p-type semiconductor material 109 where L ideally should be thedepletion of the p-type semiconductor material 109 when the coolingdevice 900 is in use.

[0076] The removing of the joule heating area 114 from the circuit willenable the cooling circuit to function more efficiently due to the factthat the joule heating that is produced by the internal resistance hasbeen minimized or eliminated. Therefore, in designing a heating orcooling system according to the invention, it would always be beneficialto ascertain the anticipated depletion region that is caused by theamount of heat to be removed and the depletion region that wasgenerated/caused by the electric field generated by the current providedby the constant current supply 105. If n-type semiconductor material 161should be selected, FIG. 15-18 will demonstrate the similar results,wherein FIG. 15 the n-type material 161 is separated by the length of 31between metal plates 102, 103. The constant current supply 105 isconductive such that the current I flows in the opposite direction. FIG.16 shows the situation where the switch 141 is closed and there is adepletion region 133 primarily produced by the heat as well as adepletion region 129 that is next to the plate 103. Additionally, thereis the area of 114 that is caused by the resistance to the current thatflows through the bar 161. Finally in FIG. 18 the plates 102 and 103 arepositioned between the p-type semiconductor material 115 such that thedepletion regions are merged and the closeness of the plates enables thecooling effect of the circuit to be more effective.

[0077]FIG. 19 illustrates a single stage-cooling device that has anouter metal contact 402 and an inner metal contact 403. The metalcontacts are separated by medium 201. The medium material could be inany state or vacuum, or it could be a semiconductor, a conductor, aliquid, it could be in solid state or plasma.

[0078] In the embodiment shown, and as was discussed in conjunction withequations 4 and 5 the selection of the material is based on the Peltierconstant which determines the separations between the metal contactrepresented by arrow 202. The shape of the cooling article of FIG. 19 iscircular however; it could be any polygonal shape, circular, elliptical,parabolic, hyperbolic, cercal, parabolic, or rotating hyperboloid. Theapplication is not dependent on the shape.

[0079]FIG. 20 illustrates the cooling effect of the device 200 showingwhere the metal contact 402 is heated or the hot contact and theinternal contact 403 is the cold contact. The separation is thedepletion region of medium 201.

[0080]FIG. 21 illustrates the pyramid structures similar to those ofFIGS. 1-3 disclosed in the prior art. The difference is that plate 102is separated from plate 203 by the link L which has a link chosen to putthe plates in contact with the depletion regions. Same is true for plate103. Additionally, the stack pyramid also has a plate 302 separated byplate 303 by distance L, and plate 302 is separated by plate 308 by thedistance L similarly plate 402 is separated from plate 305 by thedistance L. These distances are chosen to be minimum so that the jouleheating effect of the current flowing through the respectivesemiconductor regions is minimized.

[0081]FIG. 22 shows a top view of a cooling device that is circular inshape. The device 400 has dual stages, which approximately allows adoubling of the cooler effect over the device of FIG. 19.

[0082]FIG. 23 shows a sectional cut made to the cooling device 400 andthe sectional view is provided by FIG. 24.

[0083] Referring to FIG. 24 there is a metal plate 402 and a secondmetal plate 403 that are separated by a medium such as a semiconductorelement 201. Similarly, metal contact 403 is separated by a metalcontact 404 by an identical medium 201 b, such as a p-type semiconductormaterial. If current is applied to the device 400 it would effectcooling as shown in FIG. 25. The positive terminal of current source 105is applied to plate 404 and a current loop is completed via the currentflowing through the p-type semiconductor device 201B to plate 403 ormetal conductor 403 back to the negative terminal of battery 105.Current source 105 b provides current to plates 403, which flows throughthe semiconductor device 201 to plate 402, and back to the terminal 105b. The current provided by current source 105 b is double that ofcurrent source 105. This doubling increases because the segment thatincludes plate 403, semiconductor segment 201, and plate 402 will haveto remove twice the heat as the device that comprises the metal plate404, semiconductor 201 b, and metal plate 403. Since the semiconductorregions have the same lateral dimensions, the outer most region mustcool both itself and all outer regions including the center one 408. Thetotal number of regions in FIG. 25 is 3, so the author states would haveto remove 2 times the heat of the minus stage ie I (n−1) unless n is thenumber of regions.

[0084] Referring to FIG. 26, in FIG. 26a the device 200 of FIG. 22 isshown. Additional rings can be added to the device 200. For example,FIG. 26b shows device 400 of FIG. 23 having 3 conductors which conductor413 being connected to conductor ring 402, conductor 411 being connectedto conductor ring 403, and conductor 412 being connected to conductorring 404.

[0085] In FIG. 26c device 500 is shown which includes a third ringsegment 201 b that is located between metal ring 402 and metal ring 407.Metal ring 407 is connected to conductor 416. In FIG. 26d a device 600is shown having an additional ring, additional segment that includesouter ring 409, a medium 201 c located between ring 417. The outersegment 421 provides additional cooling to the inner space 427.

[0086] Referring to FIG. 27 not only can the cooling circuit be expandedby the additional segments you can take a group of segments which arecalled cell 600 and stack the cells by separating each cell 600 by ainsulator 601 to obtain an assembled cooling cell 603 as is shown inFIG. 27b.

[0087] Referring to FIG. 28 there is shown a gas heater 610 thatincludes a pipe 605 and an assembled cell unit 603. Hot fluids or gasflow into the pipe 605 as is represented by arrow 606 to provide anoutflow of cold fluids or gas as is shown by arrow 607. This arrangementcan be used as a heat pipe, and would have applications such as airconditioning or even cooling the tundra under the trans-Alaskanpipelines. This would be used to prevent the thermo-frost from meltingdue to the heat generated by the flow of the trans-Alaskan pipeline.

[0088] Providing additional cooling to the assembly 610 could furtherenhance the device, this embodiment is shown in FIG. 29, to whichreference should now be made. There is an outer conductor 621 an innerconductor 622 separated by segment 623. The segment 623 can be any typeof medium; or one of the previously described mediums to facilitate whatis referred to as force cooling as is shown by the arrow 622. Here againthe substance that is cool flows in as indicated by arrow 606 into thepipe 605 and flows out as indicated by the arrow 607. Additionally, themedium 623 could also be air where there is forced cooling providedbetween the metal sleeve 622 and 621 to remove additional heat and makethe thermoelectric cooling cell more efficient (i.e. reducing the Kfactor of equation (6)).

[0089] Referring to FIG. 30 there is shown an application of a coolingmodel according to the invention to be used with a Pentiummicroprocessor. The device includes a substrate 705 having a pluralityof bonding pads 701, located on the substrate is a Pentiummicroprocessor 703. Surrounding the microprocessor 703 is athermo-electric cooling circuit 702 according to the invention. Asegment of the thermoelectric cooling circuit 702 is provided as seenfrom dimension lines 31-31 in FIG. 31. The segment includes a substrateof p-type material 710 and within the p-type material is an implantedN-layer 711. The N-layer is divided into segments 712-717. There are 5metal conductors 721, 722, 723, 724 and 725 as shown, and run parallelaround the microprocessor 703. Each pair of metal conductors isconnected to a constant current source. The first segment of 713 has aconstant current source that provides current I1 connected betweenconductors 721-722. The second segment 714 has a constant current sourceI2 connected between conductor 722 and 723. I2 provides current that istwice the current of I1. Similarly the third segment 715 has a constantcurrent source connected between conductor 723 and conductor 724 andprovides a current I3 that is three times the current of I1. Finally,segment 716 has a current source I4 connected between conductor 724 and725 with I4 being four ties the current of I1. With this configurationthe heat that is generated by the microprocessor 703 can be removed. Thecooling circuit 702 could be bonded onto a ceramic pad 705 along withthe microprocessor 703. By using this configuration microprocessor 703can be efficiently cool without the necessity of the complex coolingcircuits currently being used.

[0090] The thermoelectric cooling device of this disclosure can also beused to cool high voltage or high power transistor switches. Example ofthat is shown in FIG. 32 where there is a smart power device 800. Thedevice 800 includes a semiconductor chip 801 that is segmented into alogic portion 803 and a power mosfet switch 802. Surrounding the powermosfet switch is a cooling circuit 804 similar to the circuit 702 ofFIG. 30.

[0091]FIG. 33 is an alternate embodiment of the invention in which thereis a semiconductor circuit 810 that includes a substrate of an n+ region821 and an n− region 821. Within the region 821 there are p-rods that goacross the semiconductor circuit p-rod 811 p-rod 812, p-rod 813, p-rod814, p-rod 815 and p-rod 816. Mounted on the semiconductor substrate, inparticular on the n region are circuit arrangements 822 over which thereis an oxide layer 823. Typically as used herein mounted on asemiconductor substrate would include implants circuits that areimplanted and annealed into the semiconductor substrate. With the p-rodsrunning under the circuit areas, the cooling can be effected byconnecting currents between p-rods 813 and 812 and connecting a currentthat is double, between p-rods 812 and 811. Similarly, there can be an11 current source connected between p-rod 814 and 815, and an additionalcurrent source between p-rod 816 and p-rod 815. The current betweenp-rod 816 and 815 would be double that between the current provided bythe source connected between p-rod 815 and p-rod 814.

[0092] Still an alternative is to cool each transistor cell 920 with acooling device 921 according to the invention of a Power Transistor 930than includes a thousand transistor cells. This is illustrated in FIG.34.

[0093]FIG. 35 is a frontal view of an infrared lense 825 that includes alens area 829 and a cooling circuit 895. The cooling circuit 895includes an outer conductor 826, an inner conductor 828 separated by amedium such as silicon or glass. Conductors 830 and 831 are used toconnect the current source between the metal boundaries 826 and 828.

[0094]FIG. 36 is a frontal view of an either a spacecraft or an underwatercraft that includes the ship, a device 910 having a window 904.There is an outer metal ring, metal 901 and an inner metal ring 902 andthe outer skin of the craft 903. A current I1 is connected between theouter ring 901 and the inner ring 902 and a current source 902 isconnected between the metal ring 902 and the outer skin of the craft 903with the current I2 being half that of I1 in situation where the craft900 if a space craft because it would be desired to cool the space craftfrom the heating effect caused by the sun, and the opposite would betrue in the event of the craft 900 and the craft 900 is an underseacraft as would be desired to warm the craft if it were the deep ocean.The medium in the situation of space is of course a vacuum or verylimited air, whereas the medium would be water when used as an underseacraft.

[0095] There are many combinations of materials that could be used tofabricate the cooling device that is discussed in the previous sections.FIG. 37 is a table which provides examples of the different combinationsthat can be used.

[0096]FIG. 38 illustrate an example of a Superconducting QuantumInterface Device, SQUID, with a high efficiency cooling system as taughtherein. The device is a circuit such as high frequency radio receiver1000 and includes a signal processor 1001, a cooling section such asthat taught in FIG. 30 cooling superconductive elements 1003. The basicoperation of SQUIDs is disclosed in the August 1994 article by JohnClarke in Scientific American, entitled “SQUIDs” on pages 46 through 52also in the February 1993 article by Bishop, Grmmel and Huse entitled“Resistance in High-Temperature Superconductors' also in ScientificAmerican pages 48 through 55. Both articles are incorporated herein byreference.

1. A cooling device comprising: a cooling area having a predefinedperiphery; and a cooling circuit surrounding the cooling area, thecooling circuit includes a medium and a plurality of N conductors inparallel alignment and located within the medium, the medium being aplurality of N+1 segments with each segment being separated from othersegments by a member of the plurality of conductors.
 2. The coolingdevice according to claim 1 wherein the cooling circuit furthercomprises: a plurality of N−1 current sources operatively connected tothe cooling circuit.
 3. The cooling device according to claim 1 whereinthe predefined periphery has a polygonal shape.
 4. The cooling deviceaccording to claim 3 wherein the cooling circuit further comprises: aplurality of N−1 current sources operatively connected to the pluralityof N conductors with a first current source being connected between afirst conductor and a second conductor of the plurality of conductorsand a second current source being connected between the second conductorand a third conductor of the plurality of N conductor and each of anyremaining current sources of the plurality of current source being likewise connect through an N^(th)−1 current source being connected betweenthe N^(th)−1 conductor and the N^(th) conductor.
 5. The cooling deviceaccording to claim 4 wherein the cooling circuit cools the cooling areaand the first conductor is located between a first segment and a secondsegment of the plurality of N+1 segments and the second conductor islocated between the second segment and a third segment of the pluralityof N+1 segments and each of any remaining conductors of the plurality ofN conductors being like wise located through an N^(th) conductor beinglocated being located between the N^(th) segment and the N^(th)+1segment of the plurality of N+1 segments.
 6. The cooling deviceaccording to claim 5 wherein each segment has a heat field depletionarea and an electric field depletion area with the heat depletion areabeing located on a first side of a segment nearest the cooling area andthe electric depletion area being located on a side across the segmentfrom the first side and the width of the segment being selected so thatthe heat depletion area is in contact with the electric depletion area.7. The cooling device according to claim 5 wherein the first segment isthe segment nearest the cooling area and the second current sourceprovides a current twice the current of the first current and similarlyeach additional current source of the plurality of N−1 current sourcesproviding a current that is multiple of the first current source with acurrent source connected to a conductor nearer the cooling areaproviding a current that is less than a current provided from anadjacent current source connected to a conductor further from thecooling area such that the largest amount of current being provided bythe N−1 current source providing N−1 times the current of the firstcurrent source.
 8. The cooling device according to claim 1 with themedium being of an annular shape.
 9. The cooling device according toclaim 8 wherein the cooling circuit further comprises: a plurality ofN−1 current sources operatively connected to the plurality of Nconductors with a first current source being connected between a firstconductor and a second conductor of the plurality of conductors and asecond current source being connected between the second conductor and athird conductor of the plurality of N conductor and each of anyremaining current sources of the plurality of current source being likewise connect through an N^(th)−1 current source being connected betweenthe N^(th)−1 conductor and the N^(th) conductor.
 10. The cooling deviceaccording to claim 9 wherein the cooling circuit cools the cooling areaand the first conductor is located between a first segment and a secondsegment of the plurality of N+1 segments and the second conductor islocated between the second segment and a third segment of the pluralityof N+1 segments and each of any remaining conductors of the plurality ofN conductors being like wise located through an N^(th) conductor beinglocated being located between the N^(th) segment and the N^(th)+1segment of the plurality of N+1 segments.
 11. The cooling deviceaccording to claim 10 wherein each segment has a heat field depletionarea and an electric field depletion area with the heat depletion areabeing located on a first side of a segment nearest the cooling area andthe electric depletion area being located on a side across the segmentfrom the first side and the width of the segment being selected so thatthe heat depletion area is in contact with the electric depletion area.12. The cooling device according to claim 10 wherein the first segmentis the segment nearest the cooling area and the second current sourceprovides a current twice the current of the first current and similarlyeach additional current source of the plurality of N−1 current sourcesproviding a current that is multiple of the first current source with acurrent source connected to a conductor nearer the cooling areaproviding a current that is less than a current provided from anadjacent current source connected to a conductor further from thecooling area such that the largest amount of current being provided bythe N−1 current source providing N−1 times the current of the firstcurrent source.
 13. The cooling circuit according to claim 1 wherein themedium is a vacuum.
 14. The cooling circuit according to claim 1 whereinthe medium is a semiconductor medium.
 15. The cooling circuit accordingto claim 1 wherein the medium is a conductor medium.
 16. The coolingcircuit according to claim 1 wherein the medium is a liquid.
 17. Thecooling circuit according to claim 1 wherein the medium is a solid statemedium.
 18. The cooling circuit according to claim 1 wherein the mediumis a plasma.
 19. The cooling circuit according to claim 1 wherein thecooling area is a space ship.
 20. The cooling circuit according to claim1 wherein the cooling area is a heat pipe.
 21. The cooling circuitaccording to claim 1 wherein the cooling area is a semiconductorcircuit.
 22. The cooling circuit according to claim 21 wherein thesemiconductor circuit is a power MOSFET.
 23. The cooling circuitaccording to claim 21 wherein the semiconductor circuit is a smart powerdevice having a power section and a logic section and the cooling areais the power section.
 24. A cooling device comprising: a cooling areahaving a predefined periphery; and a cooling circuit surrounding thecooling area, the cooling circuit includes a cooling cell of a mediumsegment and first and second conductors in parallel alignment and spacedapart by a predetermined width, L, within the medium segment, the widthL being determined to be a width of the medium segment that becomessubstantially depleted during operation of the cooling circuit.
 25. Thecooling device according to claim 24 wherein the cooling circuit furthercomprises: a current sources operatively connected to the first andsecond conductor to facilitate the transfer heat from a first side ofthe cooling cell to a second side of the cooling cell.
 26. The coolingdevice according to claim 24 wherein the predefined periphery has apolygonal shape.
 27. The cooling device according to claim 24 whereinthe cooling circuit further comprises: a second cooling cell of a secondmedium segment and a third conductor with a first side of the secondmedium segment being adjacent to the third conductor and a second sideof the second medium segment being adjacent to the second conductor. 28.The cooling device according to claim 27 wherein each medium segment hasa heat field depletion area and an electric field depletion area withthe heat depletion area being located on a first side of a mediumsegment nearest the cooling area and the electric depletion area beinglocated on a side across the medium segment from the first side and thewidth of the medium segment being selected so that the heat depletionarea is in contact with the electric depletion area.
 29. The coolingdevice according to claim 24 wherein the cooling circuit furthercomprises: a current source operatively connected to the first andsecond conductor to facilitate the transfer heat from a first side ofthe cooling cell to a second side of the cooling cell.
 30. The coolingdevice according to claim 24 wherein the cooling circuit furthercomprises: a second cooling cell of a second medium segment and a thirdconductor with a first side of the second medium segment being adjacentto the third conductor and a second side of the second medium segmentbeing adjacent to the second conductor.
 31. The cooling device accordingto claim 30 wherein the cooling circuit further comprises: a firstcurrent sources operatively connected to the first and second conductorto facilitate the transfer heat from a first side of the medium segmentto a second side of the medium segment; and a second current sourcesoperatively connected to the second and third conductor to facilitatethe transfer heat from the first side of the second medium segment tothe second side of the second medium segment.
 32. The cooling deviceaccording to claim 31 wherein the current from the second current sourceis one half the current from the first current source.
 33. The coolingdevice according to claim 31 wherein each segment has a heat fielddepletion area and an electric field depletion area with the heatdepletion area being located on a first side of a segment nearest thecooling area and the electric depletion area being located on a sideacross the segment from the first side and the width of the segmentbeing selected so that the heat depletion area is in contact with theelectric depletion area.
 34. The cooling device according to claim 24with the medium being of an annular shape.
 35. The cooling circuitaccording to claim 24 wherein the medium is a vacuum.
 36. The coolingcircuit according to claim 24 wherein the medium is a semiconductormedium.
 37. The cooling circuit according to claim 24 wherein the mediumis a conductor medium.
 38. The cooling circuit according to claim 24wherein the medium is a liquid.
 39. The cooling circuit according toclaim 24 wherein the medium is a solid state medium.
 40. The coolingcircuit according to claim 24 wherein the medium is a plasma.
 41. Thecooling circuit according to claim 24 wherein the cooling area is aspace ship.
 42. The cooling circuit according to claim 24 wherein thecooling area is a heat pipe.
 43. The cooling circuit according to claim24 wherein the cooling area is a semiconductor circuit.
 44. The coolingcircuit according to claim 43 wherein the semiconductor circuit is apower MOSFET.
 45. The cooling circuit according to claim 43 wherein thesemiconductor circuit is a smart power device having a power section anda logic section and the cooling area is the power section.